Tatas clinch Jaguar-Land Rover for $2.3bn

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Mar 30, 2008, 12.00 AM IST

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Ford Motors on March 26 handed over the keys of its marquee brands Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) to Tata Motors for about $2.3 billion in an all-cash deal. Under the deal, Ford would pay about $600-million towards the pension liabilities of Jaguar-Land Rover employees and Tata Motors would continue to source engines from Ford. The acquisition cost of $2.3 billion would be financed by a bridge loan, which will be raised through a syndicate of banks.

The bridge money will be replaced by a combination of long-term debt and equity at an appropriate time. The company will raise funds to finance its equity contribution by selling a portion of its stake in some of its subsidiaries in the next few months.

However, the final acquisition cost of the JLR brands is likely to be about $3-billion, as the announced acquisition cost of $2.3-billion covers just the price of the brands, assets and technology know-how. A big part of the additional cost would go for engine and component supply. A Ford Motor spokesperson confirmed that a separate contractual pact has been signed for engines and components.

ICICI, Jaypee Infra in Rs 1,150-cr deal

ICICI Bank entered into a Rs 1,150-crore equity-cum-debt deal with Jaypee Infratech, which is to build and operate the 165-km, six-lane Taj Expressway linking Noida and Agra. The bank has decided to pick up 1% stake in Jaypee Infratech for Rs 250 crore, pegging the valuation of the company at Rs 25,000 crore. In addition, the bank will provide Rs 900 crore as long-term loan to the infrastructure company.

Last year, ICICI Bank���s private equity arm had been in discussions with Jaypee Infratech to pick up a stake in the company. A senior Jaypee official confirmed that negotiations had taken place with ICICI Venture to buy a 1% direct stake and an additional 9% through convertible debentures. However, the discussions didn���t bear fruit then.

PE duo to invest $500 mn in Unitech SPV

Private equity players Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank are set to make a combined investment of $500 million in an SPV floated by India���s second-most valued real estate developer Unitech. The two PE players are learnt to be in advanced talks with Unitech to pick up a minority stake in the SPV formed to execute two commercial projects in Mumbai.

The two projects, located in Santa Cruz, are likely to have a combined developable office space of 2 million sq ft. The deal is likely to be closed in the next three weeks. The injection of fresh funds would come as a relief to Unitech, which recently put on hold its $1-billion qualified institutional placement (QIP) and the listing of its Singapore REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) due to poor market sentiment.

HSBC hikes stake in Yes Bank

HSBC���S financial investment arm, HSBC Financial Services (Middle East), has hiked its stake in private sector Yes Bank to 4.88% from 0.89%. Yes Bank managing director and CEO Rana Kapoor said, ���This is through a secondary market transaction. HSBC Financial Services (Middle East) has been buying Yes Bank shares since the third week of January 2008. Till last week, the total number of shares purchased stood at 14.48 million shares while the stake rose to 4.88%.���

Earlier this month, Mr Kapoor had said the bank is in talks with a few MNC banks apart from private equity arms. In December 2007, Global Orients, a Singapore-based financial institution led by Richard Chandler, picked up 4.99% in Yes Bank for Rs 331 crore. Yes Bank plans to raise up to Rs 1,100 crore in 2008-09, through a combination of debt and equity. The HSBC Group had attempted to pick up a strategic stake in Axis Bank, but was forced to dilute its holding as it did not receive RBI permission for a higher stake. The group now holds 4.96% in Axis Bank.

Mallya open to buying back Heineken���s stake in UB

Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya is open to buying back Heineken���s 37.5% stake in United Breweries (UB), in which he holds an equal stake, at the prevailing market price. But sources close to Heineken said the Dutch brewer ���is not a seller in UB���. Heineken will inherit the stake in UB from Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) after the completion of a worldwide takeover of the British brewer. The Heineken-Carlsberg combine announced S&N���s acquisition for $15.4 billion in January. The acquisition process is still on.

Pfizer sues Ranbaxy for patent infringement

In a bid to extend the exclusivity of its $13-billion anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor, Pfizer���the world���s largest drugmaker���has filed two separate patent infringement cases against Ranbaxy Laboratories. Pfizer wants to prevent the Indian company from launching generic versions of Lipitor (Atorvastatin) and Caduet (a combination drug of Lipitor) in the US until 2016. At present, Ranbaxy can launch Atorvastatin only in March 2010.

The lawsuits seek to extend that ban by six more years. According to estimates, it is expected to generate $1 billion in the first six months after launch. A delayed launch will therefore be a big setback for the Indian drugmaker. The US drugmaker filed the suits in the Delaware district court on Tuesday, alleging that Ranbaxy would infringe upon the process patents of both its drugs if it were to sell low-cost versions in the US market.